


The Tombstone

by nausicaa_of_phaeacia



Series: The Graveyard [3]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, Gen, I Don't Even Know, New York, Post Season 01, Post Series, Post-Avengers (2012), the hiatus is doing weird things to my writing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-26
Updated: 2014-07-26
Packaged: 2018-02-10 13:13:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2026395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nausicaa_of_phaeacia/pseuds/nausicaa_of_phaeacia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Coulson visits his grave in NYC.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Tombstone

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Skyepilot](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skyepilot/gifts), [RosePark15](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RosePark15/gifts).



> I own nothing but what I made up (and I don't know what I was thinking).  
> I rushed this but had to give in to the idea.  
> Basically non-ship but you can read into it all you want.
> 
> This is a small and stupid Thank You to Skyepilot and RosaleeDonovan for calming my hiatus-torn heart with really good fic. :)

It's only a few days after they have arrived at the Playground that Coulson takes a day off, and it makes Skye feel all wrong and cautious. She runs into May in one of the narrow corridors (because she's not really taking her eyes off the floor), and she can tell May secretly wants to get indignant about it, but doesn't because it's Skye. After a few awkward apologies, May can't hold back and asks, "What's the matter with Coulson?"  
And Skye is taken aback, even though she shouldn't be, because May always knows everything (even the exact moment when Skye would usually like another helping of oatmeal because there's always too much milk left when one is done with one's cereals).

Skye delivers a clumsy little speech about how something has to be wrong with Coulson actually not wanting to work for a day.  
"He's flying to New York. Going to visit his grave. Anniversary today."  
There's horror in Skye's expression, and May makes sure to add quickly enough (because sometimes, Skye is still a child), "Don't worry. It's not the first time. Maybe you should accompany him though. He likes to drive too fast when he's alone."  
The younger woman almost manages a smile before she runs around the corner.

She's just on time. He's just put on his sunglasses, and she hops into Lola from the side without asking. She half-expects him to be angry with her, but he just nods. Almost an hour later, after too much time they've spent flying in silence, he says, "Thank you", and hadn't she been so focused on the current situation, she wouldn't have understood.  
"Of course."

They finally reach Manhattan and Skye's glad Lola has a roof, because her hair still seems to be okay. Coulson doesn't speak, and the only thing that keeps her from worrying is the fact that each time before going around a corner, he briefly turns around to make sure she sees where he's headed. After more than ten blocks, he hands her a pair of sunglasses and points at her hair, and she obeys, hiding in the cuddly hood of her sweater, and behind the mirrored glass. He puts on his sunglasses himself, and as he takes off his suit jacket, she realizes he has been carrying a bowler hat the whole time. The jacket is thrown into a garbage can, but doesn't stay there long (an elderly homeless woman pulls it out, seconds after it lands, and inspects it). After a few more turns, they end up in a lonely courtyard off the beaten track. It's a dilapidated building, even though it's still obviously functioning, and inhabited. Coulson steps through a brick archway, and there's a large back yard, all green and overgrown with climbing plants.  
It's full of tombstones.

On a small picknick stool in a corner, there's a wrinkled old man in a straw hat, reading a large newspaper. Skye eyes him somewhat suspiciously (Coulson is still not speaking) - even though he doesn't even look up from the news -, then hurries after Phil. They look at his tombstone for quite a while; Skye doesn't dare to say anything. Besides the name and dates, the stone reads: "PROTECTOR OF MANKIND". She grins. Fury.  
At one point, he looks up at her, his expression laden with something she doesn't dare to decipher. "Things will be different, now," he says. "I've died only once, but this is going to be a third beginning. At least, that's what I want it to be." She nods. A new S.H.I.E.L.D. 

She looks down again. Behind Coulson's, there is a stone that says only "Sue", and Skye thinks maybe she should have had one when she changed her name from Mary Sue to Skye; but then again, Mary Sue isn't dead. She just never was Mary Sue.  
Still, she says, "Maybe I should have had one, too," and while it's understood that she's attempting to make a joke, he knows that the GH turned everything she ever knew upside down, that the whole HYDRA affair made her a different person, that Ward had showed her she wasn't a helpless child anymore. S.H.I.E.L.D. had turned her into an adult, the GH had turned her into a resolute warrior; but defeating HYDRA had turned her into a grown woman.  
He nods.

A beat passes; then, after giving her a brief look (which she can't read because they are both still wearing those stupid sunglasses), he grabs her by the wrist and pulls her out from inbetween the stones until they reach the man in the straw hat. It might just be a coincidence, but Skye thinks there's something about Coulson's presence that makes the old man put down the New York Post.  
"Yes?"

Coulson takes off his sunglasses.  
"Coulson. There's another name."  
The old man's eyes grow wide. "A striking resemblance, Sir ... you must be related. You know, on weekends, your family grave is a real tourist attraction. Mostly young women. And there's that one Russian girl, you know, a pretty redhead, one of those you know you shouldn't be messing with. Anyways. Another name, you say?"  
Coulson looks at her, and she understands. She nods.  
"Yes. A young woman."  
"What did you say her name was?"  
"Skye," says Skye.

"Same spot?," the man asks, all business.  
Coulson nods curtly. "Right next to Philip Coulson."  
"I take it Nick Fury is okay with this?"  
Skye's even faster at answering that than Coulson.  
"Course he is."

Two hours later - Coulson still isn't in the mood for talking, even though Skye is practically overflowing with questions -, they walk back to the graveyard after wordlessly having coffee just around the block. Before they walk though the archway, he holds her back by her shoulder. It's a simple, friendly touch and Skye senses there's more to this whole thing than just buying a tombstone for her soul to be at peace.

He takes off his sunglasses, and she mirrors him, not wanting to be impolite. There's something very serious to his expression, as if he'd like to say more than he allows himself to. "I'm sorry for not having talked to you all day, really. This is a very strange day for me. It means a lot that you jumped in as I was about to leave. And I know there are a lot of things you want to talk about. We're in this together, you said so." She nods, not knowing what to say.  
"Let's talk on the way back, okay?," he asks, and there's a cautious grin at the corner of his lips, so she smiles at him, a twinkle in her eye.  
"Right. And thanks for buying me my own tombstone, A.C."

When they get to Coulson's spot, they both freeze. There's obviously been a misunderstanding (there's no new tombstone), and Skye turns around right away to see if the old man's still there, but he's gone. They look at each other for a moment, confused, but after a beat, they burst out laughing.  
They leave the graveyard still smiling, Coulson's arm around her shoulder.

Coulson's tombstone now also reads,  
"SKYE COULSON  
† 2014  
INVALUABLE PARTNER  
DEARLY MISSED".

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! :) Hope it wasn't too bad, I lost my patience with this.  
> Tell me what you think!


End file.
